O lugar na construção de mapas mentais no Parque da Redenção em Porto Alegre - RS

Abstract

The present study originated from the interest in comprehending how subjects who experience Redenção Park in Porto Alegre perceive it as a place. The Redenção Park is one of the most visited and attended green spaces in the Southern State capital. It attracts several social groups which stablish different interaction. These social groups produce identity relationships among its members and the park’s various environments. The variability of its use of space generates multiple appropriations and limited relationship between the subjects and the park’s total of 37,5 hectares. The land extent was donated to the city in 1807. Today, the park has approximately 10.000 trees and it is characterized by many exclusive nooks. Redenção Park’s regular attendees usually create a bond with specific places while occasional visitors use the space sporadically in search of natural landscape view and leisure. People who use always the same places stablish a strong connection, attachment, affectivity and even ownership sense regarding these spaces. In order to investigate if and/or how the subjects turn Redenção Park into a place, this study use the phenomenological method and the mind maps theoretical ground to fully analyze the perception and representation. Three groups were determined for application of mind maps: Military, Public Power and General, these being interpreted through three categories of analysis: Nature Deficit, Flaneur and Sociability. The results of this study showed that the relationship with nature and sociability are elements which stand out, concluding that Redenção Park can be considered a place.